In the first episode of the four-hour series THE ASCENT OF MONEY, economist and historian Niall Ferguson documents the roots of money and finance in the conquest of the Americas, from the Incan empire to the Louisiana territory.

Funding for THE ASCENT OF MONEY is provided by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, T.Rowe Price, The Smith Richardson Foundation, James and Merryl Tisch, and PBS. Additional funding for educational materials is provided by the Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation, Inc.